Before we could move off today we had to wait for the delayed Locksmith that we booked yesterday. We were given an estimate that he would arrive around 10:30. Just after that time he phoned for detailed directions but was only a few minutes away.
Initially he was faced with the same difficulty that we had yesterday and could not make the lock turn. However, he must have a more skilled 'shake' as after about five minutes it eventually conceded defeat and the door was open! In fact, the lock itself was perfectly OK, except that we had that stripped the grub screw that retains the thumb knob used to open the lock from the inside.
THE close examination it was obvious that Mike had not been careful enough when adding epoxy filler to solve the previous problem earlier in the journey. It seems that only the lightest of pressure on the end of the lock causes it to refuse to open - we guess that this is an intentional security feature. Although for the last three days there had been enough room for the lock to work properly, it was now catching on a small piece of the filler. With that removed, He Presto! and all was well. Although the locksmith did not have a spare grub screw he managed to fit an ordinary screw at least as a temporary measure. An expensive learning experience!
After settling the invoice we were able to move off, with an ETA from Andrew around 1 pm at Lidl.
The short 45 minute run was very pleasant as bright sunshine had now arrived - early morning, the overnight rain was still with us.
Mike crossed this railway bridge on the car shuffle last week.
Between the mooring for Morrisons and that for Lidl there used to be a rather unsuccessful open space, presumably created when the adjoining large roundabout was built. It is currently being used as the base for some roadworks nearby - we suspect that not too many locals will be unduly discomfited by the lack of amenity. Hopefully it will be restored with a little more thought then before.
We arrived at the Lidl mooring in good time so started on the shopping - there is little available once we leave Leamington. By the time we had finished (at least the distance from store door to boat was about as short as it could be!) Andrew had arrived and unloaded his stuff (including some spare firewood!) As he had had lunch on the way he then went to park his car nearby whilst Mike and Christine enjoyed her latest soup.
Around 2:15 we reversed back the short distance to the winding hole so that we could turn and begin our return journey back to Napton (and then down to the southern part of the Oxford Canal)
We stopped at Morrisons with a short shopping list of items that we could not find at Lidl. Christine was still stowing away the earlier collection and Andrew decided to take the boat down to the water point - we were getting rather low. This left Mike to visit Morrisons (not the best of experiences as it took some time to discover that they were out of stock of some of the items!) and then walk the towpath to catch up the boat two bridges along, next to the student accommodation.
Shortly before he reached there, he was greeted by Andrew with the news that the tap has been decommissioned as it is not owned by CaRT. We concluded that it was by now a little late to make it to the next tap, three locks up and would stop at the same spot as last night, except for facing the opposite direction. Frugal washing until some time tomorrow morning!
4.7 Miles - 0 Locks
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